ERIC EJ838745: Pathways to Social Justice: Urban Teachers' Uses of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy as a Conduit for Teaching for Social Justice

2009·0.24 MB·English

by  ERIC

PERSPECTIVES ON URBAN EDUCATION SPRING 2009 | PAGE 38
Pathways to Social Justice: Urban Teachers’ Uses of Culturally Relevant
Pedagogy as a Conduit for Teaching for Social Justice
By Jennifer Esposito and Ayanna N. Swain, Georgia State University
ABSTRACT
This article explores issues surrounding teaching for social justice in urban schools. Us-
ing qualitative methods, our study examined the ways in which seven urban teachers
used culturally relevant pedagogy as a mechanism for teaching for social justice. We
found that by adhering to the tenets of culturally relevant pedagogy (e.g. personal ac-
countability and cultural critique), our participants helped their students think critically
about how social injustices affected their lives. The implications of our findings suggest
that while the constraints inherent in urban schools perpetuate the injustices of social
reproduction, the implementation of culturally relevant and social justice pedagogies
help prepare students to effect change in their communities and the broader society.
In urban schools that have long been opening the door for the implementa- outcome in teaching for social justice,
academically, economically, socially, tion of social justice pedagogy. whereas struggling against the social
and politically left behind, there are According to Gutstein (2003), so- injustices inherent in schools is the
teachers striving to ignite flames that cial justice pedagogy has three specific process. Our data lends itself toward
have been snuffed by the obvious ineq- goals, including helping students devel- the process of social justice education.
uities in the world. Despite the blighted op 1) a sociopolitical consciousness - an Given that we are examining “ur-
conditions with which their students awareness of the symbiotic relationship ban” teachers’ practices, it is important
have to contend, these teachers—using between the social and political factors to explain how we define urban. Ac-
culturally relevant pedagogy— are able that affect society, 2) a sense of agency, cording to the 2000 Census, an urban
to implement lessons that generate the freedom to act on one’s behalf and area is classified as:
an awareness of social justice issues to feel empowered as a change agent,
while inspiring their students to dream and 3) positive social and cultural iden- All territory, population, and hous-
of a better world for themselves and tities. Following Gutstein’s definition of ing units located within an urbanized
their communities. Culturally relevant social justice pedagogy, we will explore area (UA) or urbanized cluster (UC).
pedagogy as a bridge between home the connection between culturally rel- It delineates UA and UC boundaries
and school cultures (Howard, 2003) evant pedagogy and social justice peda- to encompass densely settled terri-
allows teachers of ethnically diverse gogy that emerged from our research. tory, which consist of 1) core census
populations to incorporate the values, We believe that issues of social justice block groups or blocks that have a
experiences, and perspectives of their naturally arise as teachers implement population density of at least 1,000
students’ cultures into the curriculum culturally relevant pedagogy. people per square mile, and 2) sur-
(Gay, 2002). Moreover, teachers who The purpose of this article is to rounding census blocks that have
implement culturally relevant peda- explore the challenges facing urban an overall density of at least 500
gogy are able to “empower students in- teachers as they implement culturally people per square mile (U.S. Census
tellectually, socially, emotionally, and relevant pedagogy and to demonstrate Bureau”Census 2000 urban and ru-
politically” (Ladson-Billings, 1992, p. the inextricable link between cultur- ral classification,” 2002, April 30).
382). Culturally relevant pedagogy has ally relevant and social justice pedago-
two main purposes. First, as suggested gies. In this article, we will explore how While the U.S. Census definition re-
earlier, culturally relevant pedagogy teachers in urban settings use culturally fers to the term “urban” in geographical
draws on students’ home cultures as a relevant pedagogy as a mechanism for terms, it is also a euphemism for people
mechanism for helping them achieve ultimately attaining social justice. Our of color (particularly people of African
success in school. Second, through research questions were: 1) How do ur- descent and Latinos/as) that attempts
culturally relevant pedagogy, teachers ban educators perceive the meaning of to cover up the social ills impacting
enable their students to think critically teaching for social justice? and 2) What people living in urban areas (Carlisle,
about the injustices inherent in schools does teaching for social justice in urban Jackson, & George, 2006). Our defini-
and the broader society. In other words, classrooms involve? Bell (1997) argues tion of urban is informed by the Census
culturally relevant pedagogy is a ve- “social justice education is both a pro- guidelines, as the cities in which teach-
hicle for examining social injustices on cess and a goal” (p. 1). This means that ers in this study worked were densely
both a micro- and macro level, thereby achieving social justice is the intended populated. We also recognize that ur-
PERSPECTIVES ON URBAN EDUCATION SPRING 2009 | PAGE 39
ban carries with it challenges inherent the aforementioned studies, culturally ing. Stemming from Noddings’ (1984)
in under resourced and overcrowded relevant teachers and their pedagogical philosophy of caring as a pedagogical
areas. As such, the “urban” schools in- practices have positive effects on cul- choice, studies utilizing culturally rel-
cluded in this study faced challenges turally and ethnically diverse students, evant pedagogy and social justice edu-
including high poverty, underfunding, both academically and socially. cation, such as those reviewed here, re-
minimal teacher support, limited re- lied on teachers who cared about their
sources, and other structural inequi- Social Justice Pedagogy students. In the spirit of democratic
ties. caring, teachers cared about whether
The voices of marginalized
or not their students faced discrimina-
populations are often absent from the
LITERATURE REVIEW tion and racism, and they wanted to
“mainstream” discourse, and the is-
utilize education as a site of liberation.
The link between culturally relevant sues that are most important to these
Clark (2006) argued that educators can
pedagogy and social justice pedagogy populations are frequently ignored.
engage students in the fight for social
rests in the notion that both pedago- Social justice pedagogy provides mar-
justice only after they have educated
gies aim to expose and eradicate the ginalized students with the tools to aid
students on “what social justice is and
hegemony that permeates almost every in effecting change. According to Bell
how it is to be expressed in their lives
aspect of society, including schools. In (1997), the ultimate goal of social jus-
and the lives of others” (p.281).
this next section, we will briefly review tice education is to combat oppression
the literature that addresses both peda- by enabling all groups to have an equi-
METHODOLOGY
gogies. table portion of society’s resources and,
with these resources, to be able to par- Situated between critical theory
Culturally Relevant Pedagogy ticipate fully in a democratic society. (Giroux, 2001), social justice feminism
In a two-year qualitative study (Collins, 2000), and critical race theory
There is a burgeoning collection of
that explored teaching and learning (Ladson-Billings & Tate, 1995), our re-
research on culturally relevant peda-
for social justice through mathemat- search explored systems of oppression
gogy (Ladson-Billings, 1995; Ladson-
ics, Gutstein (2003) connected math- and privilege inherent within schools
Billings & Henry, 1990). Au and Jordan
ematics learning objectives with his (which manifest through school reform
(1981), who coined the term “culturally
students’ experiences. He utilized the mandates) as well as alternative modes
appropriate,” were two of the first re-
Freirean approach in which he encour- of teaching (such as culturally relevant
searchers to investigate this topic. Mo-
aged his students to “read the world” pedagogy and social justice pedagogy)
hatt and Erickson (1981) used the term
with mathematics, which he defined as that help to eradicate these inequities.
“culturally congruent” to describe the
the use of mathematics to understand Schools, as microcosms of the society
teaching practices of Native American
networks of power and race, class, and in which we live, serve as sites that pro-
teachers while Cazden and Leggett
gender discrimination. The result was a mote the interests of the dominant class,
(1981) added to this body of knowledge
classroom of students with heightened thereby perpetuating social reproduc-
with the term “culturally responsive”
sociopolitical awareness. tion (DeMarrais & LeCompte, 1999).
teaching. More recently, Ladson-Bill-
In Sheets’ (1995) study of Latino However, as DeMarrais & LeCompte
ings (1994) using the term culturally
students who were transformed from (1999) argue, the role of critical theo-
relevant in a study of the teaching prac-
“at risk” to “gifted,” she found that the rists is to seek alternatives that allow
tices of teachers who were successful
cultural awareness achieved through “individuals to structure their own des-
with African American students. In
culturally relevant pedagogy played tiny and to ameliorate the oppressive
her ethnographic study of these teach-
an integral role in improving the par- nature of the institutions in which they
ers, Ladson-Billings (1995) found that
ticipants’ ethnic identities, which she live,” (p. 32).
although they had very different peda-
defined as “a sense of self determined Giving “voice” to those who have
gogical approaches, there were some
by racial and cultural variables and em- been silenced by the master narrative is
common traits each of the teachers
bedded in a social and historical con- one of the crucial components of criti-
shared, including an ethic of caring, an
text” (p. 190). Sheets further argued cal race theory (Ladson-Billings, 1998).
ethic of personal accountability, cultur-
that in addition to gaining more posi- However, as feminist social justice re-
al competence, and cultural critique.
tive ethnic identities, the students were searchers, we are cognizant of the com-
Finally, in an attempt to gain stu-
also able to engage in discussions sur- plexities associated with “giving voice”
dents’ perspectives on culturally rel-
rounding social and political issues. We to our participants. There are benefits
evant teaching, Howard (2001) found
believe these examples are a testament and limitations of speaking for partici-
that there were three teacher charac-
to the relationship between the tenets pants. As such, our aim is not to speak
teristics that were most important to
of culturally relevant pedagogy and for our participants, but rather to pro-
students, such as possessing a caring
those of social justice pedagogy. vide an opportunity for their voices to
attitude, the ability to build community
One of the main links between cul- be heard. According to Ladson-Billings
within the classroom, and the ability
turally relevant pedagogy and social & Tate (1995), “the ‘voice’ component
to engage the students in the learning
justice education is the ethic of car- of critical race theory provides a way to
process. As evidenced by the findings in
PERSPECTIVES ON URBAN EDUCATION SPRING 2009 | PAGE 40
communicate the experience and reali- Participants program through which he mentored
ties of the oppressed, a first step on the African American young men.
The participants included seven Af-
road to justice” (p. 58). Our research, Lydia Williams, a 27-year-old Afri-
rican American teachers who taught in
we believe, illustrates voices of teachers can American woman, also had a pas-
urban schools located in a southeast-
who have been forced to use scripted sion for studying the history of people
ern city. The teachers, most of whom
curricula in their classrooms, a practice of African descent. She began teach-
had attended urban schools, had vary-
that is rapidly becoming the master ing at Wilmington Elementary School
ing degrees of teaching experience,
narrative in many urban schools across after participating in an alternative
ranging from non-traditional teacher
the United States. teaching program and had taught third
preparation programs to more tradi-
As feminist, social justice research- grade throughout her five-year teach-
tional teacher preparation programs.
ers (Collins, 2000), we endeavored to ing career. She so strongly believed in
Each of the teachers had a master’s
be reflexive throughout the study. We implementing culturally relevant peda-
degree or was in the process of pursu-
believe identifying as Latina and Af- gogy that she purchased, with her own
ing a master’s degree. The participants
rican American females, respectively, money, an innovative software pro-
carried with them differing philoso-
may have facilitated the development of gram to supplement the curriculum at
phies regarding social justice and, con-
a positive rapport with our informants.1 her school.
sequently, had a variety of approaches
We are both former K-12 urban educa- Treneka Jenkins was a 28-year-old
for implementing culturally relevant
tors and have a commitment to social African American woman who taught
pedagogy in the classroom. Despite
justice. This experience enabled us to fourth grade. After participating in an
the variation in the ways they imple-
probe more deeply into the educators’ alternative teacher certification pro-
mented culturally relevant pedagogy,
experiences, as we knew very intimate- gram, she began teaching at Benning-
the participants all commented on the
ly the structure and form of urban edu- ton Elementary School, where she had
transformative journey they undertook
cation. been teaching for four years. Although
in becoming teachers who taught for
her socioeconomic background differed
social justice. In an effort to define the
Data Collection Methods research context, we will provide a brief somewhat from her students, she com-
mented that she tried to understand
Because we were interested in our description of the participants.
and positively influence their lives by
participants’ perspectives and under- Alexis Stone,2 a 27-year-old African
incorporating real-life lessons into the
standings (Bogdan & Biklen, 2003) re- American woman, had taught five years
curriculum.
lated to social justice, we utilized quali- at Hamilton Elementary School. As
A graduate of a traditional teacher
tative methods. Our methods included a second grade teacher, she chose the
preparation program, Giselle Thomp-
in-depth interviews and a focus group teaching profession after participating
son, a 27-year-old African American
session. We conducted semi-structured in an alternative teacher certification
woman, had been teaching fifth grade
interviews with seven urban educators program. She had fond memories of
for six years at Springdale Elementary
who were identified to us by a univer- her elementary schooling experience
School. As an advocate of culturally rel-
sity faculty colleague as having an in- and used those experiences to inform
evant pedagogy, Giselle incorporated
terest in culturally relevant pedagogy her teaching practices.
music into the curriculum and regular-
and issues surrounding social justice. Poem McNeal, a 25-year-old Af-
ly engaged her students in meaningful
We sampled purposefully, as we were rican American woman, was in her
dialogue about cultural misrepresenta-
interested in including urban teach- fourth year of teaching fourth grade
tions found in the textbooks.
ers who believed in culturally relevant at Marshall Elementary School. She,
Beautiful Starr was a 43-year-old
pedagogy but also had a school reform too, began teaching after matriculating
African American woman who after re-
model implemented at the institutional through an alternative teacher certifica-
ceiving an undergraduate degree in an-
level. We interviewed each informant tion program. Being a first-generation
other field had also gotten a second un-
twice from one to three hours and con- college graduate, she said she identified
dergraduate degree in early childhood
ducted a two-hour focus group session with the students she taught because
education. Having taught first grade for
at the end of the study. Serving as an their experiences were very similar to
four years at Foster Elementary School,
opportunity to collect additional data her own.
she stressed the importance of paying
and to member check, the focus group A graduate of a traditional teacher
attention to the nonverbal cues stu-
session allowed us to share our inter- preparation program, Jabari Moore
dents get when their cultures are not
pretations of the data with the partici- was a 28-year-old African American
represented in the curriculum.
pants, clarify remaining questions, and man who taught eighth grade social
receive their feedback on our inter- studies at Rockingham Middle School.
pretations. The interviews and focus Having taught six years, Jabari strove Data Analysis
groups were audio-recorded and later to incorporate his passion for African Because our analysis was ongoing,
transcribed. and African American history into his we coded our data as it was transcribed
lessons. In addition to teaching, he and utilized the constant comparison
established a leadership development method (Glaser & Strauss, 1967), which
PERSPECTIVES ON URBAN EDUCATION SPRING 2009 | PAGE 41
allowed us to make decisions about inhibited our participants’ ability to use are important to being a good citi-
how to proceed based on previously culturally relevant pedagogy to address zen.” “Vote when there is an elec-
collected data. Initial coding was com- social justice issues. tion.” Okay, I can see that, we
pleted individually. We then met week- talked about that. “Go to church on
ly over a two-month period to discuss Implementation of Social Justice Sunday.” That’s indoctrinating!
our interpretations of the codes and Right? So [to] the student [who] is
Pedagogy
data. Together we developed a coding sitting in my class, that’s not cul-
scheme that included over 50 catego- As argued earlier, there is an inextri- turally sensitive. Because I’m not a
ries and subcategories, which we be- cable link between culturally relevant good citizen if I go to the mosque,
lieve allowed us to capture the nuances pedagogy and social justice pedagogy. or to the synagogue, or to the Bud-
of our participants’ responses. We uti- Borrowing from Gutstein’s (2003) dhist temple, right? So we analyze
lized this scheme to analyze subsequent framework, we have integrated our par- that. You see what I’m saying? And
transcripts and modified the scheme as ticipants’ voices on culturally relevant this stuff is laid out there so, and I
new, interesting codes emerged. pedagogy into the three main goals of tell them. I say, “Teachers give y’all
Themes. We found several inter- social justice pedagogy: sociopolitical this stuff and it’s all programming.
esting themes that emerged from the consciousness, sense of agency, and And then you grow up and it rein-
data. The first was that teaching for positive social and cultural identities. forces the prejudices and everything
social justice involves risk, time, and Sociopolitical consciousness. that happens. It’s deep. Like I said,
self-reflection. The second group of When asked how they implemented “A good citizen stands during the
themes discuss the ways participants culturally relevant pedagogy, several Pledge of Allegiance”…
defined teaching for social justice. For of our participants’ responses included
them, teaching for social justice in- themes related to social justice. For ex- Jabari then analyzed the Pledge of
volved teaching critical thinking skills, ample, Lydia discussed why a cultur- Allegiance:
empowering students, helping students ally relevant pedagogy was important,
achieve academically, and helping them particularly for urban students: One of the [questions] had them
see themselves in relation to others. We to fill [in the blanks] in the pledge
also discovered that our participants …This is really education for libera- of allegiance. So we analyzed the
viewed culturally relevant pedagogy as tion, and I think that’s what we real- Pledge. “Please look at this: I pledge
a mechanism for effectively teaching ly have to [do], we really need to fo- allegiance to the flag. What [does]
for social justice. This theme is woven cus on that in urban school settings. pledge mean? What does allegiance
throughout the discussion of our find- mean? What is this flag? And to the
ings. When asked to clarify what she meant republic for which it stands, one na-
by education for liberation, Lydia re- tion… What does one nation mean?
FINDINGS sponded: Is it one nation? Under God? What
do you mean? Indivisible? Meaning
Teachers are charged with the ex-
It’s educating beyond just being it cannot be divided?... That’s true,
tremely challenging task of ensuring
able to graduate from high school you can’t divide something that’s
students thrive both academically and
and [getting] a job. [It’s] education already divided. That might be true.
socially. In this era of accountability,
that’s [going to] turn you into a crit- Liberty and justice for all? Come
particularly in urban schools with pre-
ical thinker… getting knowledge for on, now! So, we picked it apart.
scriptive school reform models, the
the sake of knowledge… Learning
majority of the school day is dedicated
for the sake of learning… Learning One of the choices read, “A good citi-
to intensive “academic development,”
because you want to, because you zen supports our military and soldiers.”
leaving little time to address social
love to learn, instead of just having Jabari prompted his students to con-
justice issues. This “academic devel-
to. sider the propaganda being promoted
opment” often translates into curri-
through the curriculum:
cula that are “teacher proof.” That is,
Jabari had strong views about how
they may include scripted lessons from
the curriculum perpetuated social in- Then it says “our!” What does “our”
which educators are not able to deviate
justice. By simply pointing out specific mean? This [incident happened af-
(Delpit & White-Bradley, 2003). Teach-
questions from a daily workbook to his ter Hurricane] Katrina, so I said,
ers committed to raising their students’
students, Jabari encouraged them to “Okay…but was it ‘our’ government,
sociopolitical consciousness, develop-
think critically about the curriculum. ‘our’ people?… When they say ‘our,’
ing their sense of agency, and positively
One multiple-choice question asked you gotta understand who they’re
affecting their social and cultural iden-
students to choose the items they be- talking about… Have we ever been
tities must find creative ways to incor-
lieved were important to being a “good considered in the ‘our?’ Even when
porate social justice awareness into the
citizen:” the Pledge was written…originally,
curriculum. In this next section, we will
[when] that pledge was written, we
explore factors that contributed to and
Look, “Check the items you think were still in chains. The Constitu-
PERSPECTIVES ON URBAN EDUCATION SPRING 2009 | PAGE 42
tion [of the United States]… all that to think critically, Treneka empow- Positive social and cultural
stuff. They’re talking about ‘ours,’” ered them to have a sense of agency: identities. Part of helping students
I said, “It’s theirs. Don’t come here develop positive social and cultural
talking about ‘ours.’” Certain articles that I find I may identities is giving credence to the cul-
read to them… Sometimes we have ture students bring to the classroom.
Like Jabari, Treneka used the cur- these conversations where the other Lydia shared how she worked to foster
riculum to help her students think day we were talking about research positive social and cultural identities
critically. When asked how she was [that] found that the highest level, with her students:
able to implement culturally relevant the highest percentage of African
pedagogy, she expressed her commit- American males in jail, in jail or pris- Even teaching here, because I come
ment to ensuring her students thought on in our state, was at the zip code from a middle class background,
critically about the curriculum in place: 12345. ‘What zip code do you all live and so just because I share the same
in?’ ‘12345’ [the students respond- race as my children, we have differ-
In terms of implementing culturally ed]. ‘So…Do you think that’s true?’ ent cultural experiences. And I have
relevant pedagogy in my room, just And then everybody just rattled off to remember that as well, Okay
when we’re reading certain things… a good ten, twenty names they knew these kids are coming, Reddington
if we’re talking about Thanksgiving, who were in prison or in jail. And Road (a pseudonym) is something
I’ll bring in other perspectives on they’re like, ‘Yeah, I could see that.’ to them. And that means something
who discovered America. [It is] cul- ‘So why do think it’s so high here?’ different than what that means to
turally relevant in terms of them be- ‘Well, they don’t ever have an op- me and I have to make sure I under-
ing African American because I like portunity, they’re not doing noth- stand what that means, I take that. I
to teach them certain things about ing. A lot of ‘em dropped out.’ Right, take whatever Reddington Road is to
[the] great things that Africans have and so we just got into talking about them and use it as a bridge to where
done… from that perspective, the that, [I am] getting them thinking… they need to be as far as curriculum.
African perspective… I also teach It definitely made them think…
them [to] try to be critical thinkers. Some of them really started to look Lydia worked tirelessly to ensure that
“Don’t always [accept] everything at at [themselves] in a different way. her students learned about their own
face value. Also, research and look We use our language, ‘Would you culture in addition to the mainstream
it up yourself.” Because we’re… like to end up that way? So…what culture that was being promoted by the
sometimes… just going through our is it that you could do so you will school’s administration. When asked
social studies book and I’ll just ask not end up in a situation like that?’ how she made decisions about imple-
them, “So do you think this is true? menting culturally relevant pedagogy,
Why do you think this is true? So, Poem also strove to instill a sense of Lydia responded:
who wrote this book? Who pub- agency in her students. She believed
lished this book? Don’t you know teachers must approach students in I don’t even see it as… it’s not even
there’s this huge industry making an empowering way instead of viewing a thought I have. I’m very cautious
money off education?” Things like them as victims. She discussed the di- about the things that I expose my
that. lemma that arises when there is a cul- children to at this stage, because
tural incongruence between teachers they get so little of their own culture.
Schools, as argued earlier, are micro- and students: And [they] are so negative about
cosms of the larger society. Conse- their own culture. Our book this
quently, social injustices such as rac- When the kids ask you (teachers month was a book about Hanuk-
ism, classism, and sexism manifest in from different ethnic and cultural kah… I shared that with them. At the
schools through the curriculum. It is backgrounds) certain questions and same time, sharing with them about
incumbent upon teachers to instill in tell you certain stories, what will Kwanzaa. So I [said] “Okay, we’re
their students a sense of agency to com- your reaction be, instead of [saying] gonna do that book (the book about
bat these injustices. “Oh, I can’t believe you go [through] Hanukkah), because I do want you
Sense of agency. Social reproduc- this!” [The response should be], all to know about other people. But
tion theory posits that schools are sites “How can we change this?” “How let’s talk about what we do [too].”
that perpetuate the dominant para- can you grow up to change this, be-
digm and maintain social stratification ing that you see this on a daily [ba- Lydia infused her pedagogy with cultur-
(Bourdieu & Passeron, 1990). Trene- sis], what do you think need to be ally relevant materials as a way of em-
ka’s interactions with her students done and how can we get it done?” powering students and enabling them
helped them think critically about the to experience cultural pride. Beautiful
conditions in which they lived and In addition to providing students with a also incorporated culturally relevant
placed into perspective social repro- sense of agency, social justice pedagogy material into her school’s curriculum.
duction theory in terms they could un- also involves helping students develop In her view, when children do not see
derstand. By encouraging her students positive social and cultural identities. images like themselves in their class-
PERSPECTIVES ON URBAN EDUCATION SPRING 2009 | PAGE 43
rooms, they get the nonverbal message commented on this transformation: school reform model’s focus on paper-
that they are not worthy. She shared work:
how she ensured her students saw posi- I have this [saying] called “Con- The frustration with me rests in the
tive images of African Americans in the quered,” the conquered mind. I fact that [there are] just so [many]
classroom: relate the conquering of the Afri- outside things that I feel like I don’t
can land by European colonizers. have any time to teach.
I put [pictures of] Martin Luther We talk about that and what [the
King, Malcolm X, Shirley Chish- colonizers] did to maintain power. Poem also shed light on how the dis-
olm [on the wall]… Some people And then we talk about the whole tribution of the school reform models
who they [may] not even know slave trade and relate that to now… in her school system contributed to the
about. They know about Martin showing that the same conqueror perpetuation of social injustice. Poem
Luther King, but [not] Shirley Ch- then is the same conqueror right was very critical of the disparities she
isholm… and [I] put some other now. You (the students) are not en- witnessed in her school system with re-
people [like] Thurgood Marshall slaved in chains, but it’s the ideo- gard to the racial distribution of school
up there. [They are] part of USA. logical war that we are fighting. I reform models among the schools. The
said, “Okay, so you have the choice district where Poem taught included
Jabari’s students had also internal- to make. Are you going to continue a number of predominately White
ized negative stereotypes. In the ex- to be conquered, and make some- schools:
cerpt below, he shared how he dealt one else happy when you fail your
with this: class, when you get suspended, [or The third frustration that I have is
have] ISS (in-school suspension), the school reform model that we ad-
I said, “When you think of Africa, [when] you’re acting a fool in the opted was America’s Choice, which
what you think of? They started hall? Because this is what you were I don’t like. I don’t really care for
naming all [these stereotypes]. I expected to do.” I just show them reform models, period. I just don’t
had to list all the stereotypes: Black, how that [the system] works. Now understand why [the school system
dirty, naked, ugly feet, hungry, etc. I [if they see students misbehav- where I teach] is so inconsistent, you
just let them go on. They were laugh- ing in the hallway] they’ll come know? When I just look at, when I
ing and having a field day with it. I back to me say “Conquered. Mr. think about my own experience
just let them go on and do it. Then, Moore, you see, they’re conquered.” [growing up] and when I just look
I asked them, “Who’s been there?” at other school systems, the whole
No hands. I asked them, “Who wants The responses made by Jabari’s stu- Fairbanks County [school system]
to go there?” No hands. And then I dents are a testament to his level of has the same textbook. Every school
started asking them where they got social consciousness and the impact he has the same set of curriculum. And
these ideas. They were still kind of has had on his students. I don’t understand how, now I get
skeptical. I have to expand on [the [to the school system where I teach],
textbook]. But the book gives me Constraints Associated with Teaching and I hate to say it, all predominant-
some seeds where I can go and run ly Black schools have school reform
for Social Justice
with it. I look at the riches that we models, and… all the predominant-
[African descent people] had, the Insofar as our participants were ly White schools across the line they
gold, Mali, Timbuktu… Ancient committed to battling against the social still got International Baccalaureate
Egypt, over there in Nubia, Aksum, injustice inherent in schools, they were and these kind of reform models
and Kemet and I just explain to faced with obstacles that made teach- [International Baccalaureate], they
them all these things that came out ing for social justice challenging. It was give them a little bit more autono-
of that era. I let them know that we clear to us that our participants had a my, giving teachers a little bit more
are the original man. You were the commitment to teaching for social jus- autonomy, a little bit more freedom
original man, you were the king, tice through their implementation of to construct their own lesson.
the queen, the goddess of the earth, culturally relevant pedagogy. However,
there would be no life had it not there were several constraints includ- When asked how she thought racism
been for [your ancestors]. ing school reform models, risks to their factored into the implementation of
career, time involvement, and lack of school reform models, Poem added:
The students Jabari taught held nega- resources that presented them with
tive stereotypes about Africans. Jabari challenges. It’s sad to say… racism is the under-
had to interrupt these psychologically School reform models. As ar- lying cause as to why we have these
damaging conceptualizations before he gued earlier, schools that have adopt- reform models, because [they’re]
could teach them subject content. ed school reform models experience basically saying that minority chil-
Jabari, like so many of the educa- unique challenges that often prevent dren in [our school system]… Black
tors we studied, spoke of the changes teachers from having time to teach. children, are behind. [They’re] not
he witnessed in his students. Here he Poem shared her frustrations with her looking at lack of resources and
PERSPECTIVES ON URBAN EDUCATION SPRING 2009 | PAGE 44
those things. They’re behind be- in her district’s predominately White built this. Most of the time [when]
cause the companies [that] created schools: I come to work I have a suit on and
those reform models had an agenda. So you get into racism, then you get a tie. I don’t come in there with my
They had stereotypes,… agendas al- into classism… When I look at the dashiki on. I think I could (wear a
ready set [in place] and assumptions reform models they put into the pre- dashiki)… but I feel like it’s (the suit
that we need to get these children dominantly Black schools, [they’re] and tie) camouflage. I don’t wanna
up to par to this status. Well how do telling us that Black teachers can’t, expose myself. I don’t want them
[they] define that standard? ‘Well, that… I’m not teaching. How can to ever be able to point at me and
we need to educate them…into the you construct a reform model that blame me.
dominant society, which is White.’ gives me line by line or tells me how
I feel that way. What standards are much time I have to teach this con- Beautiful had a similar view:
[they] measuring them on? [Which] cept to a student and what I should
children are [they] using? How do be teaching, when… some schools No, it’s [African American history]
[they] define this concept of intel- don’t even have that (school reform not part of QCC (Quality Core Cur-
ligence? Where are [they] getting models). I just can’t understand it. riculum standards). [There is really
this? Are you going back to eugen- So that’s why I feel it’s racism… be- no] time to teach it. But if you look
ics? Show me the group of children cause [they’re] basically telling me at my wall right there, I got Martin
that you [are] using [to measure] “Well you’re not getting it done, so Luther King, I got the Black his-
our children. That’s your racism let us get it done for you… You’re tory there, [other] African Ameri-
right there because the standards our robot so this is what you need to cans. We had to do a cultural unit
that they’re using are predomi- do.” on Calendar USA and Mexico. Now,
nantly White children in affluent [nothing negative] was said to me,
neighborhoods and communities Poem’s frustrations with the school but they [administrators] looked
that have everything… That have reform models compounded with the in my room…and said, “Look what
other resources… with White teach- risks associated with teaching for social she [has] up there.” I didn’t have
ers [who] have the autonomy to justice. the American flag, [but] I got it in-
teach… Where the parents are try- Teacher risks. There are numer- directly… I didn’t have a lot of Eu-
ing to build their child as a person ous risks associated with teachers ropean stuff up there. I got Black
and as an individual and a citizen teaching for social justice. By chal- people. They’re American.
participating in democratic societ- lenging their students to think criti-
ies versus [trying to get] a child to cally about the inequities within their Giselle discussed the risk she took by
graduate and get a good job. schools and the broader society, teach- refusing to use a program she believed
ers are encouraging their students to was not in her students’ best interest:
Giselle had a similar comment about question authority, a practice that is
the disparities between the predomi- seen as a threat by school officials (Gut- [Reading Achievement]3 is very
nantly African American and predomi- stein, 2003). Jabari, in challenging his similar to SFA (Success for All). It’s
nantly White schools in the district: students to deconstruct the Pledge of a scripted [curriculum] that they
Allegiance, realized the risk he was tak- give you. [With] the teacher book,
They have a lot more resources, al- ing. He also made a political statement you read through it, [and] the kids
though they’re not a Title I school, in his decision not to fully display the repeat a word after you… My first
they don’t even get the money, but United States flag in his classroom: year wasn’t so bad because I was
yeah, they have more [resources]… new and I hadn’t been taught read-
as far as down to the food that’s That’s why I [have] my flag rolled ing strategies in college. So for a
served to the [students]… All their up. I feel like we, we are involved in while it was like, “Okay, let me just
technology is working in their guerilla warfare; you can’t put your- do this.” Then I started attending
school… Plus they’re not required to self out there. Mine is up but it’s professional development [courses]
have a reform model. rolled up all the way where you can and reading books and started see-
only see like an inch of it coming up. ing how this [was] absolutely ridicu-
Here, Poem took issue with African And I [have] the huge liberation flag, lous for our children, especially our
American children being “measured” I [have a] shrine standing in front of children… It did not teach decoding,
utilizing culturally biased assessments. it. But it still kinda pokes out from and building for fluency, and a lot of
She lamented how other factors like behind. So it’s up. And then I [have] things related to reading compre-
school funding were not considered in another one that I just got, the red, hension… It… was just memorizing
the debates about school performance. black and green American flag. With things. [The students] didn’t ben-
Poem also critiqued the lack of auton- red and green stripes, black where efit… from it. The crazy thing is that
omy in the reform models she utilized it’s blue, and then green stars. You they [Reading Achievement person-
in a predominately African American know the whole thought behind that nel] were trying to prove that kids
school versus the reform model found [is that] we [African Americans] who had been here from kindergar-
PERSPECTIVES ON URBAN EDUCATION SPRING 2009 | PAGE 45
ten through fifth grade were more the letters], I’ll take it [myself] Just one of those where you really have
fluent readers, which they were, but because I’m willing to take that risk. to be a special person to keep in
they weren’t looking at other vari- it. Cause it does wear you down. It
ables. The kids who were stable and When asked what “risk” entailed, Poem wears on your nerves, it wears on
were here from K through 5 also had responded: your time, your energy, you know,
supportive parents. So, I really don’t you get tired of seeing other folks,
attribute any of their success to that Risk entails… it’s like almost giving who don’t, who’re not doing any-
program. After I had done research, up your livelihood. You hear about thing. You say to yourself, “Wait a
I just made a stand and decided this people who went to jail… for social minute. I did all my work, and you
was not good for my kids. This [was] change, that risked their livelihood. didn’t do anything. Your kids don’t
not beneficial, so I started to adopt They risked their family [and] their know anything. I’m up here mak-
my own strategies… [On one occa- own lifestyle for a change… That’s ing stuff at home, bringing it in and
sion] we were being observed by what I’m trying to organize now. what have you done?”
somebody from Reading Achieve- The teachers are saying, “But I don’t
ment. She came in and [said], “I wanna put my name on it… But Beautiful had a similar comment:
don’t know what you’re doing. This what if they try to pull something
is not our program.” And I told her, up on me?” I said, “You don’t have This year it seems like [our school
“This is not the best way.” I just had to put your name on it, just [tell] the system] has us doing so much other
to tell her. experience that you’ve had… [I’ll] stuff we don’ t have time to uplift
let them know that it’s anonymous.” the culture… even doing Black his-
Giselle presented a proposal to the It’s just sad. tory.
principal and the Reading Achieve-
ment representative explaining why Faced with the economic reality of Our participants spoke about having to
the Reading Achievement program was needing jobs, many urban educators use their personal resources to supple-
ineffective for their school’s popula- eschew risk or, like Jabari, risk only so ment the curriculum. Alexis, for exam-
tion. Although she initially received op- much. Poem was our only participant ple, shared the stress associated with
position, the program was removed at who communicated that she was will- having limited classroom resources:
the end of the school year. When asked ing to risk everything to best meet the
how taking this risk affected her, Gi- needs of her students. Well, I think it is a financial stress.
selle responded: Time involvement and lack of It’s a mental stress too because
resources. Although it is common sometimes you just don’t know
[I felt] like I knew what I was talk- for teachers to use their personal time where to find the stuff. [For exam-
ing about. It was really the first time to prepare for their lessons, the toll is ple] you [may] go to Barnes and No-
that I kinda actually stood up for even greater for teachers in schools bles. That might not be their top pri-
something that I felt was harming with limited resources. For instance, ority. “Oh, can I find some culturally
my kids. I can’t say that… it was be- Poem shared how she spent her per- relevant, you know, books.” They
cause of me that it was removed, but sonal time searching for supplemental [are] looking at you like, “Whatev-
somebody needed to not approve it. materials: er. This is what we got, okay? Eric
So that… encouraged me to decide Carle.” So, I had to go to [an African
from that point on that if there’s I always go to the [school] library American bookstore] and just ask [a
something that I see that’s not right, or the local library on my weekends salesperson] for help.
not only do I need to not keep it my- [to check out] particular books that
self, [because] you can know some- the kids… can relate to. I try [not to This excerpt also illustrates the com-
thing is wrong and just keep it to rely too] much [on the basal] reader mitment involved with social justice
yourself. But I felt like all students stories and the five questions in the pedagogy. Alexis was not deterred when
need to benefit from [my opinion], book… but to really do a theme. So, a major bookseller did not have cultur-
so I need to make it public. if we’re working on making predic- ally relevant materials. She sought a
tions, we use those [supplemental] bookstore that did.
Poem shared her perspective on the risk texts to actually make predictions. Lydia, as most teachers do, spent
involved in trying to organize teachers her own money to supplement the re-
to voice their concerns to the superin- Alexis shared her perspective on how sources provided by the school system.
tendent: time constraints, among other issues, Lydia extended herself even further by
affected her physically and emotion- purchasing a supplemental math cur-
I’m willing to take that risk. So, any- ally: riculum geared toward African Ameri-
thing that I talk about doing, like get- can students. When we first spoke to
ting a collective of teachers to voice I think in the Black community it’s Lydia about her decision to purchase
their concerns… If [the teachers] still like a profession that’s still held the curriculum, she had this to say:
don’t want to [sign their] names [on in very high esteem. But I think it’s
PERSPECTIVES ON URBAN EDUCATION SPRING 2009 | PAGE 46
My kids absolutely love it. I don’t the privileges that are so freely given able to navigate the injustices in soci-
have the equipment that I need to to those who do fit the norm. Schools ety, likely forcing them to remain in the
make it bigger. I’m still working on echo society’s oppressive messages lower social strata. Second, teaching
that so we have to gather around a by serving as sites where students are for social justice requires a great deal of
laptop. I actually bought a laptop so sorted based on racist, classist, and risk and time involvement, which can
you know that I can use for home sexist ideologies. Because many Afri- contribute to teacher attrition. Teach-
and here [school] so that… but they can American and Latino students in ing is a labor-intensive profession, even
love it and I was kinda like ‘Okay, urban schools are constantly barraged under the best circumstances. It is even
is this really gonna work? Are they with messages that they do not mea- more difficult for teachers who must use
really gonna remember this stuff?’ sure up to the standards, they begin to an excessive amount of their personal
And it’s working, so I gave them um internalize these messages and fulfill time to compensate for the limited re-
a pre- and a post-test with just tra- the prophesy. The result is that these sources in their schools. Furthermore,
ditional math instruction and then students are often relegated to the the risk of being reprimanded, or even
we’re gonna go from chapter four in lower echelons of the social structure worse, fired for challenging the status
my math book, which is money and as a direct result of their school experi- quo prompts some teachers to leave the
I found that on there too, we’re gon- ences. profession altogether. To be sure, the
na go from there, with, you know, Culturally relevant pedagogy and negative implications associated with
strictly [this supplemental curricu- social justice pedagogy both aim to teaching for social justice are complex.
lum]. combat negative messages by instilling The attainment of social justice, how-
in students cultural pride and critical ever, is well worth the struggle.
When we spoke with Lydia later in the consciousness. Empowered by positive
semester, she had even more positive messages about themselves and their
comments about the supplemental cur- heritage, students are able to exceed Jennifer Esposito is an Assistant
riculum she had purchased: academic expectations and overcome Professor of Educational Policy Stud-
the obstacles of social injustice placed ies at Georgia State University. Her
I really like it. I really, really like it. before them. Teachers who promote research interests include urban edu-
And it’s really helped me in other the academic and social development cation; race, class, gender, and sexual
subjects as well. Because it kinda, of their students through culturally rel- orientation identity construction; and
it’s kinda shown me that I, it’s em- evant and socially just pedagogies pre- popular culture as a site of education.
powered me to kinda make some of pare them to make a tremendous impact She has most recently published in
my own decisions about what I’m on their communities and the world. Educational Action Research, Journal
gonna teach in the classroom, and We found that our participants did just of Educational Foundations, and Edu-
I don’t have to be tied to a certain that. By helping their students develop cational Studies.
curriculum, I can find what works a sociopolitical consciousness, a sense
for my children. And I can make of agency, and positive social and cul- Ayanna N. Swain is a student in the
that decision because… I’m the tural identities (Gutstein, 2003), our College of Education at Georgia State
teacher. That’s what I’ve learned participants provided students with the University.
from that. Like, even,… I saw the resources to create a better world for
math… “I don’t wanna do this for themselves and their communities. Re-
writing, I don’t wanna do this for fusing to be silenced by challenging the
reading, I wanna do this.” And I can injustices of prescriptive, inappropri-
do this, because I see that… alterna- ate curricula and limited resources, our
ENDNOTES
tive things can work. And I still can participants shared how they helped
1 See (Archer, 2002; Egharevba,
find things that work, not just what students develop an awareness of the
2001; Johnson-Bailey, 1999) for a
they tell me to do. My children re- subtle and glaring injustices found in
discussion of the complexities of
ally enjoy it, like they are, they’re re- the curriculum, their schools, and the
gender and race and the research-
ally engaged. larger society.
er-participant relationship.
There are two major implications of
CONCLUSION our findings. First, the constraints in- 2 All of the participants’ names are
We live in a world with a long his- herent in school reform models perpet- pseudonyms that they themselves
tory of oppression that manifests in vir- uate social reproduction. The scripted chose. School/District names have
tually every aspect of society, including curriculum leaves little room for criti- been changed as well.
cal thinking activities, which leaves
our schools. Individuals who neither
students ill equipped for careers that 3 Giselle asked that this particular
conform to what society has deemed as
require critical thinking skills, thereby school reform model be given a
normative nor subscribe to the domi-
perpetuating social reproduction. In pseudonym.
nant paradigm are marginalized and
other words, students who are not chal-
systematically excluded from enjoying
lenged to think critically may be less
PERSPECTIVES ON URBAN EDUCATION SPRING 2009 | PAGE 47
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